#espiritismo

[realityanddelusion]

Gate of Travel Concept art by Juan Miguel López Barea for Blasphemous(2019) vs Mano Poderosa (The All-Powerful Hand), or Las Cinco Personas (The Five Persons), 19th century. Oil on metal (possibly tin-plated iron)

#art #art history #blasphemous #game kitchen #indie games #the fact the stigmata is the part you walk through is just such a chefs kiss #Catholicism #espiritismo

[theblissfulstars]

The Spirits do not judge you unfairly for your humanity. Your queerness is sacred and divine, your disability is a piece of your holy puzzle and your body is a blessing no matter how it may come.

The Ancestors have lived it, the trees, the hills, the mountains, the sea and the saints have seen it.

The Spirits do not judge you unfairly for your humanity. Imperfection is wholly and entirely perfect.

#spiritualism #polytheism #witchblr #black witch #hoodoo #santeria #vodou #21 divisions #espiritismo

[bookwormbluee]

Kadınlar ilgi gördüğünde sevildiğine inanıyor. Kadın için ne kadar ilgi, o kadar sevgi...

Bizi kandırmak çok kolay.

#black and white #my photos #photographers on tumblr #writers on love #photography #artists on tumblr #poets on tumblr #i love you #love #food photography #poem #music video #motivating quotes #motivación #romance quotes #espiritismo #esports #historia #galaxy #stairs #culture #versos #food list #anime scenery #animals #home & lifestyle #landscape #wallpaper #writing #amazing

[magicaguajiro]

Swamp Witch Travels: Finding Sacred Space

Myakka River and Paynes Creek State Parks

As I dive deeper into my practice of bioregional animism, I look to parks for sacred space and places to connect with spirits of all kinds. In Florida we live in cities divided by nature preserves and swamps, and we are also incredibly blessed to have an amazing State Parks system. These parks offer us peaks into ecology and history of the Land that reveal to us some of Its Mysteries. Here are a few things I’ve learned as a Folk Witch.

Make an offering when entering. For ancestral reasons, I use tobacco. Use what you're guided to. Introduce yourself, your intentions, etc. Also, pick up trash and be respectful. Don't wander in places you don't know, or take things you don't have knowledge on. It’s usually best to practice Leave No Trace but when have Witches been known to follow rules… Do as ye will. But always ask and give something in return.

There are different spirits!

Trees, plants, rivers, hills and even entire forests and parks can have their own spirits. At parks like Myakka and Payne’s Creek, there are platforms you can climb for an aerial view of the park. This is a great place to connect with the Genus Loci of a place! (For more on Genus Loci, I recommend Folk Witchcraft by Roger J Horne) Some spirits will want to talk to you, some won’t. Respect their choices and don’t expect anyone to talk for free.

Protection is Key!

Protection is important for witches and animists. Many spirits and natural places are dangerous, for example some Rivers are known for drowning and can be seen as having a harsh and dangerous spirit. When protecting myself day to day I wear spiritual jewelry from my Cuban traditions. Shark and gator teeth serve as great protection from water spirits and in general. My spiral shell ring is protective and I often use it in ritual. Bodies of water are also great places to bless things and hold rituals of cleansing and power! Not only spiritual protection, but physical protection is needed as well. In these swamps, we have gators, sharks, panthers, bobcats, bears, snakes, PEOPLE and even more things that would gladly expedite your role in the food chain. I’m not saying be afraid of animals, rather have respect and recognize you are in their domain. Carry bear spray, don’t wander too far off known trails, and be careful of other people.

I once heard a saying, the Swamp knows everything about death, and doesn’t consider it a tragedy.

Enjoy the Scenery, and Learn!

Take it all in and take your time! If you need to escape heat and mosquitos check out the visitor centers and gift shops! I justify spending a bit too much here on considering it an offering to the Land. Try talking to the people who work here or making friends! This is a great way to learn Folklore and secret places to explore.

On Remembering Ancestors of the Land

In working with the Land, you must honor the Ancestors of the Land. These are the spirits of all the people who lived on the Land before you. For me, this begins with my Ancestors and the other Indigenous groups of the area. In Florida, the tribes who remain today are the Seminole and Mikasuki. We should look to Indigenous tribes for wisdom on how to approach and respect the Land, but that doesn’t mean read online about it and go appropriate it. It means go and actually talk to real life people. You can and certainly should also honor other people, including any folk saints or historical figures who may serve as tutelary spirits or otherwise.

And always remember to say Fuck the Colonizers!

Happy Witching Friends, May the Dry Season bring us all Renewal!

#witchcraft #florida #bruja #brujeria #witch #bioregional animism #florida witch #santeria #swamp witch #traditional witchcraft #espiritismo #taino #taino spirituality #atabey #folk magic #folkloric witch #folk witchcraft #folk witch

[magumsilvarum]

Spirits and their common uses and misconceptions

So today I wanted to talk about a few spirits which, not much is so far known of through literary writing, but more so through celestial knowledge. (each spirit will have its own section)

The Pythoness - many Christian and Judea religions view the pythoness spirit as a demon like spirit that is meant to steer one away from Gods path and imbue one with negative thoughts such as death and sickness through the mind, yet I've personally found and many civilizations prior and after that the story is not as such. In yogic practices there is a certain breathe and practice of the kundalini. Kundalini is the term for "a spiritual energy or life force located at the base of the spine", conceptualized as a coiled-up serpent. The practice of Kundalini yoga is supposed to arouse the sleeping Kundalini Shakti from its coiled base through the 6 chakras, and penetrate the 7th chakra, or crown. This allows for an open pathway as a connection to God, elevated spirits and the spirits of the afterlife, our ancestral spirits, within celestial planes. In buddhism giant serpents were seen as protectors of the dharma, the truth that liberates us, standing strong against any attack. Many psychics, seers, mediums, witches and tarot card readers tend to have a spirit who knows one of two things about divination, prophecy and esoteric knowledge, but the pythoness spirit is looked at more like the all seeing eye or the eye of ra and horus. In greek mythology Leto the great she-wolf was cursed to never give birth upon the land as Hera set her out to be cursed by her daughter and for Gaia to not allow her to give birth to her two children. Through Zeus' interference Leto was able to give birth to both Artemis and Apollo. Later Apollo went to go slay a Snake that had threatened Leto and therefore gained the ability to turn into a snake himself. He declared the island previously known as Pythos to be Delphi and as the God of prophecy later became a hub for those seeking answers from great oracles once a year, known as Pythias. These women were great prophets and witches alike that danced with fire and tamed snakes to dance along with them protecting the island from attacks and monsterous threats as to pay respect to Apollo. These were women and men of wild nature who allows there instincts to guide them through the understanding of the great divine. One with nature they became medicine workers, prophets, seers, musicians, dancers, pyromancers, snake charmers, witches and mages and dream weavers.

These great spirits are revered as a highly elevated court in spiritualist practices, sometimes just perceived as the spirits of tarot decks or oracular objects they are forgotten as being far too complex to be seen as just that. Through the force of light they bring great aid to those they are on spiritual journey's with, they rid of hexes, curses and spiritual illnesses. They guide through prophetic dreams, clairvoyancy, clairsentience, clairaudience and mediumship. They are capable of conjuring powerful spirits and the spirits of the dead (necromancy), as well as a straight line communication to God, gods and goddesses. They move through the celestial tides of the universe and bring forth great health, wealth, abundance, freedom and spiritual knowledge to those they favor. They are quite benevolent spirits who help bring in death or the spirit of change for the better and to rid old stubborn ways of the past. They are great teachers of dark and light magic. They aid in learning and music as well. Helping those with charisma and the ability to enchant and/or charm enemies and others alike. They have such affinity towards chocolates, gold, silver, wine, fire, candles, light, mirrors, divination tools, water, flowers and floral scents, perfumes, snakes and music. There number is 7 and their flower is the rose, particularly the white rose, but other colors are fine as well. They also enjoy sunflowers, as they venerated Apollo, and the Anise star. Their colors are Red, burgundy, gold, emerald green, white, silver, purple, and brown. Yet each is different and might prefer a royal blue for all we know each spirit is different to another so getting to know ones spiritual court is quite important. Stones like diamond, ruby, jade, emerald, citrine, labradorite and amethyst can be given to such spirit as well as Selenite and Amber each representing Artemis and Apollo. These spirits can sometimes be confused with a better known spirit Santa Martha la Dominadora. You may even have both within your spiritual court, but they two hold many similarities.

Prayer to the Pythoness

O Blessed Pythoness, I invoke your humble yet wild nature into my life, I give you thanks for the visions told and untold and for the sight to see my path clearly. May your connection to God and all living things be great and full of love and respect. May your tides of wisdom bring peace to the land and bestow upon me and my loved ones a blessed hand. Lady of the fire, imbue me with your holy flames may they burn away all evil done unto me by others or by my own hand. May your light charm those who seek no good into doing acts of kindness and greatness and may your soothing voice bring sweetness and riches to the land and seas. You the one who tamed the dragon and serpent to your gracious hand. Tame my enemies and bring good fortune to those in need. Help the world against devastation and may your great cobra bring forth the promise land. Lady of the land and sea, conjure your celestial winds to protect me and bring good news from the heavenly lands. Through the eye of the one who can see I plea to you humbly and in need. As it is. So mote it be. Amen

Say this prayer with Psalm 91 3x and Psalm 4 3x under the flame of a white(or yellow) light end with a Glory be. It will help receive divine messages through divination or prophetic dreams and help transmute negative energy and protect against evil eye.

Oracion a La Pitonisa

O Bendita Pitonisa, Yo invoco tu humilde y salvaje espiritu de naturaleza entre mi vida, te doy las gracias por los visiones contado y no contado y por la vista para ver mi camino claramente. Que tu conexión a Dios y a todas criaturas vivas sea lleno de gran amor y respeto. Que las olas de sabiduria traen paz a toda la tierra y otogar a mi y mis seres queridos tu mano bendicida. Mujer de los fuegos, envuelvame con tus llamas benditas que me liberan de cualquier maldad sea enviado por enemigos o que han nacido de mi propia mano. Que tu luz encandile a los que no buscan el bien y les transformas hacer actos de carino y grandeza y que tu voz encantadora trae dulcisimiento y riquezas a la tierra y los mares. Tu que haz vencido el serpiente y el dragon con tu mano graciosa. Ayuda al mundo contra la devastación y que tu tierra prometida sea traido por tu gran cobra. Mujer de la tierra y mar, protejame con los vientos celestiales y que traen buena noticias del cielo. A través del ojo del que puede ver te suplico humildemente y de necesidad. Como es. Asi sera. AMEN

#espiritismo #spiritualism #spirituality #magic #white magic #spirits #pythia #pythoness #pitonisa #witchcraft #prayers #spiritualcourt #sanse #spells #brujo #bruja #brujeria #pagan #animism #ritual #occult #occultism #magick #esoteric #god #elevatedspirits #los espiritus #espiritus elevados

[aruanda]

#universalismo #aruanda #espiritualidadeindependente #ramatis #allankardec #espiritualidade #umbanda #espiritismo #qualidadedevida #mediunidade

[gravalicious]

“Figure 3.7. Photographic portrait of Hortensia Ferrer, ca. 1912. (By permission of Ángela Calvo Puig, La Habana, Cuba.)”

Source: Kristine Juncker - Afro-Cuban Religious Arts: popular expressions of cultural inheritance in Espiritismo and Santeria (2014: 82)

#hortensia ferrer #espiritismo #santeria #afro-cuban #spirituality #religion #art #culture #caribbean

[espiritismo]

maledicência

Existem pessoas que se aproximam de nós com o espírito da maledicência; querem saber da nossa vida, não para nos auxiliar, mas para tornarem públicas as nossas feridas… 2 Devemos tomar cuidado com esses nossos irmãos que adquiriram uma estranha viciação: querem crescer às custas da indigência alheia…”

Chico Xavier

#deus #jesus #espiritismo #deus jesus

[notasfilosoficas]

“Lo que pienses lo serás. Lo que sientes los atraerás. Lo que imagines lo crearás”

Helena Blavatsky

Helena Blavatsky, también conocida como Madame Blavatsky, fue una escritora, ocultista y teósofa rusa nacida en Yekaterinoslav en agosto de 1831. Fue una de las fundadoras de la “Sociedad Teosófica” y contribuyó a la difusión de la llamada “Teosofía”.

Fue hija de un coronel de origen alemán, establecido en Rusia y de una hija de una de una familia de la nobleza rusa que trabajó como novelista. Por parte de su madre fue nieta de la princesa Helena Dolgorúkov, botánica y escritora.

Debido a la prematura muerte de su madre, Helena creció bajos los cuidados de sus abuelos, los Fadéef en Saratov en una vieja e inmensa mansión, en donde su abuelo se desempeñaba como gobernador.

Helena tenía talento como pianista, y según testimonios de algunos contemporáneos, poseía ciertos poderes psíquicos o sobrenaturales, y desde muy temprana edad se mostró interesada en el esoterismo, libros que leía de la biblioteca de su bisabuelo quien se había iniciado en la masonería a finales del siglo XVIII.

Helena sostenía y demostraba que tenía la capacidad psíquica para comunicarse con los moradores de los mundos sutiles e invisibles, y con los seres que para nosotros están muertos.

A la edad de 17 años se casó con NIkífor Vasiíevich Blavatsky de 40 años, en una provincia de Armenia. Helena aceptó casarse para poder ganar independencia, y aunque según ella, nunca se consumó la unión, tras 3 meses de infeliz matrimonio, escapó por las montañas montando a caballo para ir a la casa de su abuelo en Tiflis, capital de Georgia.

Según se cuenta, Helena realizó una serie de viajes por diversos países, como Egipto, Turquía y Grecia entre otros tantos. En algunos de estos viajes, estuvo acompañada por el explorador y naturista estadounidense Albert Rawson, miembro de la masonería e interesado en el ocultismo.

En 1851, se dice que tuvo su primer encuentro con un hombre del cual había tenido diferentes sueños de la infancia, y que se convertiría en su maestro de nombre Rajput Mahatma.

Ese mismo año, Blavatsky viajó a Canadá, y varias partes de los Estados Unidos, México, Sudamérica, e intentó posteriormente ingresar al Tibet sin éxito, antes de regresar a Inglaterra.

En 1855, logró entrar al Tibet en donde pasaría por un periodo de entrenamiento bajo la dirección de su maestro y de 1860 a 1865 vivió en el Cáucaso, en donde pasó por experiencias de crisis de tipo sobrenatural, los cuales, según ella, la posibilitaría a la adquisición de un dominio completo de sus energías psíquicas.

En 1871, tras multiples viajes y experiencias psíquicas por Chipre y Grecia, y tras salvarse en un naufragio cuando se encaminaba a Egipto, intentó en El Cairo fundar la que llamaría “Sociedad Espírita”, con poco éxito pues se vió rodeada de charlatanes y ególatras que harían fracasar esta sociedad, por lo que en 1873, su maestro le dió instrucciones de proseguir hacia París y más adelante Nueva York.

Es en Nueva York en el año 1875 que Blavatsky funda con el coronel Henry Olcott, y el abogado irlandés William Quan Judge, la denominada “Sociedad Teosófica” con la participación de 16 teósofos, según actas elaboradas por el propio William Judge.

En septiembre de 1875, Blavatsky publica su primera gran obra titulada “Isis sin velo”, libro que habla de la historia y el desarrollo de las ciencias ocultas, la naturaleza y el origen de la magia, las raíces del cristianismo y según ella, los fallos de la teología cristiana. 

En 1878, Blavatsky y Olcott trasladaron la sede de la Sociedad Teosófica a la India en donde conocieron al editor del periódico oficial del gobierno de la India, Alfred Sinnet, iniciando juntos en 1879 la publicación de la revista “The Theosophist”, siendo Blavatsky la editora responsable, con lo cual la sociedad teosófica se arraigó profundamente en América y Londres.

La denuncia de varios seguidores del fraude que se ocultaba en las prácticas de la Sociedad, llevó a la fundadora a abandonar la India en 1885 para establecerse en Londres.

En 1888 Blavatsky publica su obra “La doctrina secreta”, seis tomos en los que trata de explicar la evolución cósmica, planetaria y humana, la cual incluye mas de 2000 citas con indicaciones de paginas y autores. En esta obra están también explicados los símbolos básicos contenidos en las grandes religiones y mitologías del mundo.

El surgimiento del espiritismo y el ocultismo, estuvo muy ligado a una crisis que se sucedió en el pensamiento contemporáneo del cristianismo, causada por la antipatía de los cristianos liberales a la idea de la condenación eterna, la cual era opuesta e incompatible con la noción de un Dios amoroso.

Por otra parte, en lo relacionado a la ciencia, la geología había demostrado que la datación del mundo era mucho mas antigua que las enseñanzas de la Biblia, haciendo del espiritismo una nueva forma de contactar con lo espiritual, lejos de las viejas ortodoxias.

Helena Blavatsky murió en Londres en 1891 de gripe a los 59 años de edad. Su cuerpo fue incinerado y parte de sus cenizas fueron depositadas en Europa, Estados Unidos y en la sede de la Sociedad Teosófica. 

A la muerte de Blavatsky y de Henry Steel Olcott, la Sociedad Teosófica fue entregada a su secretaria Annie Besant, quien ya había logrado con sus audacias crear un importante cisma entre los miembros de la Sociedad, obligando a William Quin Judge abandonar la sociedad y ser perseguido por los seguidores de Besant.

Tras su muerte, la teosofía vivió varias crisis y cismas, y su influencia se extendió a lugares oscuros como el Tercer Reich, donde muchos altos cargos del partido se declararon seguidores de esa doctrina.

Fuentes: Wikipedia, biografiasyvidas.com, elconfidencial.com, elespanol.com, ecured.cu

#teosofia #frases de reflexion #citas de escritores #citas de reflexion #escritores #espiritismo #ocultismo #frases de escritores #lideres espirituales

[powderedspells]

✨🔮There's So Many Spell Materials Right in Your Kitchen 💐🍓

🍓You don’t need to immediately jump right up to your local botanica, spiritual shop, or even digital marketplace in order to find ingredients for your spells. A lot of the time, if you’re not able to go outside to forage, you can open up your own pantry and find PLENTY of items for whatever kind of spell work you’re doing. Protection, love, money, cursing….you can find ingredients for anything you want to do in your spice cabinets, in your fridge, in your pantry!

🌷Things like cinnamon and coffee can be used to add speed or quickness in your work.

🌷Cinnamon is also great for protective work because of it's firey hot nature as well. You can use the whole bark or the powder in different ways. Do what works for you and what your spirits or traditions or ancestors suggest.

🌷Cinnamon is ALSO good for money work too! I fucking love cinnamon. It goes SO good with other things like allspice and nutmeg too for money.

🌷 Coffee in general is an ingredient I like to use in my m

🌷 Lemongrass used in tea can be very helpful for calming anxiety. Lemongrass can also be used for cleansings and breaking blocks.

🌷Cornstarch can be used as a base for all of your spiritual powders if you wish!

🌷Cloves are good for domination.

🌷Black pepper is protective, and is very useful in reversals/return to sender work.

🌷Flor de Jamaica/Hibiscus flower is really good for love/beauty work, especially passionate ones. It has a lot of vitamin c as well!

🌷Mint is so good for money work! I love sweet mint the most for this. It’s also good to drink as a tea for when you’re having stomach problems like tummy aches and gas. It’s very easy to grow fresh as well, and can be found for pretty cheap at grocery stores (pssst….if you have SNAP/EBT, you can find mint plants/hierba dulce in supermarkets and they’re SNAP eligible!)

🌷 Apples have also been associated with things like beauty and love, depending on who you’re talking to. The seeds would be very useful in love but alternatively dominating work, depending on what you’re going for. Just be careful!

🌷Onion & garlic skins can always be used for cleansing and protection (garlic for this) purposes in your space and home too

🌷Eggs can be used for offerings (but as always, double check that whoever will accept them!). they can also be used for cleansings as well, and are also used for protection.

🌷Dont forget the egg shells are useful for protection too! And you can use the eggshells as well to create calcium water for your plants, or crushed up so slugs cannot access your plants.

🌷White rum is so good for cleaning as well, so is white vinegar, but for the vinegar I personally think it's especially important to do something to bring sweetness and good things back into your space

🌷 You can literally use any of your kitchen oils to make your own conjure oils -- it doesn't matter if it's vegetable or jojoba or canola or soy or olive (although I PERSONALLY prefer to use olive as base for my money oils & work, as well as my protective work)

🌷Oregano is also good for money, for protection, for situations with court and the law

🌷Orange peels are great for happiness and money! They're also cleansing, so they're great for floor washes. You can boil them if you want to for washes and for a nice scent to the home. You can dry them to use in happiness or money powders or mixes (you can keep the peels whole or turn the dried peels into powder with a mortar and pestle, food processor, or by hand)

🌷 Lemon and limes can be used as strong spiritual cleansers too. I like to boil them and use the water for washes. They can also be used for other workings, especially when you need people to leave you alone and get away from you. You can prep them the same way you would do the orange peels!

🌷 Oats are good for your skin, especially if you have irritation, but are also really good offerings and has been associated with wealth as well.

Make sure at the end of the day you’re talking to your spirits, your ancestors, your intuition, and listen to what they tell you! They’ll always give you the best results, it’s never good to just do whatever the books tell you.

#witchblr #brujeria #espiritismo #hoodoo #afrowitch #black witch #witchcraft #spiritual work #spell ingredients #rootwork

[long-sleeved-sandwich]

cemeteries can’t be “haunted” like that’s just the ghost house 😐

#witchcraft #hoodoo #voodoo #santeria #santerismo #espiritismo #spiritism #espiritismo cruzado #witchblr #ghost stories #ghosts #spirits #spiritual #spirituality #haunted aesthetic #graveyard #cemetery

[culturalukumi333]

🌿ORACIÓN PARA TOMAR CUALQUIER HIERBA DE LA NATURALEZA🌿 Ozain te saludo con respeto, solicito tú permiso para tomar parte de tú legado, es para (sanar, tomar, limpiar etc.) Esta hierba (nombre de la planta) en cambio te dejo este derecho (ofrenda) como gratitud de recibir la medicina. Gracias, gracias, gracias padre *Esta oración básicamente pidiendo permiso a conciencia, cualquier persona lo puede realizar #ozain #orishas #eshu #eleggua #oggún #oshun #Yemayá #obatala #shango #oyá #espiritismo #palomonte #Ifá #puebla #loscabos #mexico #chiapas #tlaxcala #guadalajara #españa #chile #perú #estadosunidosdenorteamerica #miami #diloggun https://www.instagram.com/p/CrkBAvgtElu/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#ozain #orishas #eshu #eleggua #oggún #oshun #yemayá #obatala #shango #oyá #espiritismo #palomonte #ifá #puebla #loscabos #mexico #chiapas #tlaxcala #guadalajara #españa #chile #perú #estadosunidosdenorteamerica #miami #diloggun

[theblissfulstars]

#spiritualism #hoodoo #altar #folk catholicism #spiritism #espiritismo

[bookwormbluee]

Karşındakinin gözlerinde kendini görebilmektir Aşk.

#black and white #my photos #photographers on tumblr #writers on love #love #felsefe #artist on tumblr #currently reading #picture of the day #romance quotes #romantic #i love you #love my friends #culture #historia #espiritismo #black and white picture #piano #love poem #poets on tumblr #artists on tumblr #photo of landscapes #stars #woman #musica #motivación #motivation #beautiful girls #my writing #writing

[magicaguajiro]

Caribbean Folk Saints and Mighty Dead: A Precursor

We all have family members who take on an almost Mythic quality after they pass on. They may have been a character in life, or a perhaps a spiritual practitioner. Maybe they were known for their generosity, or lack of it, or their strength or brilliance. Nonetheless, it is someone who, even in death, still makes an impact. In personal practices, we may work with these ancestors for guidance and healing, but what happens when their influence spreads past your family, into the local community or even entire country? This and many other strange circumstances often explain the origin and powers of Folk Saints and Elevated Dead. I will be going into the various Folk Saints and Deified Ancestors of the Caribbean, (including Florida), but before I can do that I need to explain where these spirits come from, and why they are so potent in our everyday lives.

What are Folk Saints and Mighty Dead?

Folk Saints and Mighty Dead are spirits of dead people who were either elevated in life, or became elevated after death. Their elevation often is then connected to their ability to grant various petitions made to them. Some of the Folk Saints I will be talking about were used to disguise other figures who were outlawed by the Colonial government at the time, while others are various figures of marginalized communities who gained sorcerous or otherworldly reputations after death.

Cuba and Florida are Lands of diaspora and syncretism. Many different traditions abound and each tradition has multiple lineages, so the classification of spirits differs depending on the worldview of the person explaining. Some practitioners work within a framework of Catholicism, some use elements and some flat-out reject Catholicism completely for decolonization purposes. For this reason, I have differentiated Folk Saints from the Mighty Dead.

Folk Saints will include those spirits who are worked with in a Catholic context, but are usually not canonized or not at first. On the other hand, the Mighty Dead will include spirits who are venerated amongst Indigenous and African traditions in Cuba as well as the surrounding areas, as to not group them under a title created by Colonizers. If you are Cuban or Caribbean, these Folk Saints and Mighty Dead offer power at a closer degree because they are more proximal to your Spirit Court, and may even already have bonds with them.

It is important to note, spirits like Orisha and Cemí have very specific protocols, manners and taboos when approaching them, so this is best done with the help of a priest, such as Oloricha or Babalawo, or a Taíno Behike. These are not energies you simply feel drawn to and work with. Orisha and Cemi are in some cases Deified Ancestors and others Personified Forces of Nature, among other things. This varies from the Ancestors and Spirits I will be discussing in this series.

Benefits of Working with The Mighty Dead

Folk Saints and Ancestors give us a closer connection to the divine through their proximity to the Divine and their individual virtues and personalities. As with all spirit relationships, you will get out what you put in.

Folk Saints who are related to the Land you live on, such as Uncle Monday or Bessie Graham for us Floridians, can help to deepen your connection with the local community. They can help you to further your relationship with the Earth and introduce you to other Land spirits.

Spirits related to your Ancestry can help to work through generational issues. Some ancestral spirits, like José Martí or Guamá for us Cubans, are related to ideas of War, Rebellion, and overcoming oppression. These spirits can be worked with for the same pursuits of defeating oppressors in the modern day. Each spirit has a story and is multi-faceted, so it really depends on what your connection is to the Spirit and what you are capable of offering them.

How to Work with Deified Dead

Working with these spirits is individual to each spirit, based on what their heritage is, as well as their personal tastes. When starting out, it’s best to keep things simple. Instead of going and creating an entire altar dedicated to a spirit, begin by praying about it at your Bóveda or ancestral altar. Here, you may find that a spirit is not compatible with your current situation, or doesn’t want to work with you ever! Should the omens be good, however, and you may begin establishing a connection to that spirit Research and talking to other devotees can give you great insight into what a relationship with that Spirit can look like.

My formula for reaching out to these spirits is always different, but I follow basic principles. I always begin with a representation of the spirit, a small offering and a candle. The representation can be anything, from a statue to a printed picture or even just their name on some paper. The offering is in most cases water until the spirit makes other wants known to me, but when a spirit doesn’t take water I offer food or tobacco instead. The candle is something I was taught helps to enhance spirit communication, carrying messages between the worlds. It is helpful to research about whoever you are attempting to communicate with, and if possible you should speak to other practitioners who work with the same Spirit. Often times, this is someone-you-know’s father or grandmother. From here, you should sit with whatever entity you are contacting, allowing yourself to experience a personal relationship with them. I will share individual experiences of what each spirit has been like in practice for me, or people I know, but for beginning this is a good basic way to start out.

I look forward to sharing more about these incredible figures who influence my favorite corner of the world to this day.

Paz y Progreso 🕯️

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[aruanda]

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